Current systems for regulating the speed of an electric vehicle during hill descent utilize a variety of different methods, such as regenerative braking, to supplement vehicle braking and thereby prevent the vehicle's brakes from overheating and possibly failing. The current braking assist methods generally require driver interaction to actuate and/or control the braking assist provided by the method. For example, the driver may have to activate the braking assist method and set and/or modify the level of braking assist according to terrain and/or road conditions. Further, some braking assist methods may only have one braking assist level which is applied to supplement the vehicle braking. As a result, the braking assist may be incorrectly applied or the level of braking assist may be improperly set for the specific conditions (e.g., too much or too little) which may create dangerous driving situations.
Accordingly, a need exists for a method and system for automatically regulating the speed of an electric vehicle during hill descent.